Annette_Auguste

AD的选角终于公布了啊

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
— CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE The Prince’s Tale—

And now Harry stood in the Headmaster’s office yet again. It was night-time, and Dumbledore sagged sideways in the throne- like chair behind the desk, apparently semi-conscious. His right hand dangled over the side, blackened and burned. Snape was muttering incantations, pointing his wand at the wrist of the hand, while with his left hand he tipped a goblet full of thick golden potion down Dumbledore’s throat. After a moment or two, Dumbledore’s eyelids fluttered and opened. ‘Why,’ said Snape, without preamble, ‘why did you put on that ring? It carries a curse, surely you realised that. Why even touch it?’ Marvolo Gaunt’s ring lay on the desk before Dumbledore. It was cracked; the sword of Gryffindor lay beside it. Dumbledore grimaced. ‘I ... was a fool. Sorely tempted ...’ ‘Tempted by what?’ Dumbledore did not answer. ‘It is a miracle you managed to return here!’ Snape sounded furious. ‘That ring carried a curse of extraordinary power, to contain it is all we can hope for; I have trapped the curse in one hand for the time being –’ Dumbledore raised his blackened, useless hand, and examined it with the expression of one being shown an interesting curio. ‘You have done very well, Severus. How long do you think I have?’ Dumbledore’s tone was conversational; he might have been asking for a weather forecast. Snape hesitated, and then said, ‘I cannot tell. Maybe a year. There is no halting such a spell forever. It will spread, eventually, it is the sort of curse that strengthens over time.’ Dumbledore smiled. The news that he had less than a year to live seemed a matter of little or no concern to him. ‘I am fortunate, extremely fortunate, that I have you, Severus.’ ‘If you had only summoned me a little earlier, I might have been able to do more, buy you more time!’ said Snape furiously.He looked down at the broken ring and the sword. ‘Did you think that breaking the ring would break the curse?’

‘Something like that ... I was delirious, no doubt ...’ said Dumbledore. With an effort, he straightened himself in his chair. ‘Well, really, this makes matters much more straightforward.’ Snape looked utterly perplexed. Dumbledore smiled. ‘I refer to the plan Lord Voldemort is revolving around me. His plan to have the poor Malfoy boy murder me.’

Snape sat down in the chair Harry had so often occupied, across the desk from Dumbledore. Harry could tell that he wanted to say more on the subject of Dumbledore’s cursed hand, but the other held it up in polite refusal to discuss the matter further. Scowling, Snape said, ‘The Dark Lord does not expect Draco to succeed. This is merely punishment for Lucius’s recent failures. Slow torture for Draco’s parents, while they watch him fail and pay the price.’

‘In short, the boy has had a death sentence pronounced upon him as surely as I have,’ said Dumbledore. ‘Now, I should have thought the natural successor to the job, once Draco fails, is yourself?’ There was a short pause. ‘That, I think, is the Dark Lord’s plan.’ ‘Lord Voldemort foresees a moment in the near future when he will not need a spy at Hogwarts?’ ‘He believes the school will soon be in his grasp, yes.’ ‘And if it does fall into his grasp,’ said Dumbledore, almost, it seemed, as an aside, ‘I have your word that you will do all in your power to protect the students of Hogwarts?’ Snape gave a stiff nod. ‘Good. Now then. Your first priority will be to discover what Draco is up to. A frightened teenage boy is a danger to others as well as to himself. Offer him help and guidance, he ought to accept, he likes you –’

‘– much less since his father has lost favour. Draco blames me, he thinks I have usurped Lucius’s position.’

‘All the same, try. I am concerned less for myself than for accidental victims of whatever schemes might occur to the boy.Ultimately, of course, there is only one thing to be done if we are to save him from Lord Voldemort’s wrath.’ Snape raised his eyebrows and his tone was sardonic as he asked, ‘Are you intending to let him kill you?’ ‘Certainly not. You must kill me.’ There was a long silence, broken only by an odd clicking noise. Fawkes the phoenix was gnawing a bit of cuttlebone. ‘Would you like me to do it now?’ asked Snape, his voice heavy with irony. ‘Or would you like a few moments to compose an epitaph?’ ‘Oh, not quite yet,’ said Dumbledore, smiling. ‘I daresay the moment will present itself in due course. Given what has happened tonight,’ he indicated his withered hand, ‘we can be sure that it will happen within a year.’ ‘If you don’t mind dying,’ said Snape roughly, ‘why not let Draco do it?’ ‘That boy’s soul is not yet so damaged,’ said Dumbledore. ‘I would not have it ripped apart on my account.’ ‘And my soul, Dumbledore? Mine?’ ‘You alone know whether it will harm your soul to help an old man avoid pain and humiliation,’ said Dumbledore. ‘I ask this one, great favour of you, Severus, because death is coming for me as surely as the Chudley Cannons will finish bottom of this year’s league. I confess I should prefer a quick, painless exit to the protracted and messy affair it will be if, for instance, Greyback is involved – I hear Voldemort has recruited him? Or dear Bellatrix, who likes to play with her food before she eats it.’ His tone was light but his blue eyes pierced Snape as they had frequently pierced Harry, as though the soul they discussed was visible to him. At last Snape gave another curt nod. Dumbledore seemed satisfied. ‘Thank you, Severus ...’
——译文——
这一次，哈利还是站在校长办公室里。时间是晚上，邓布利多无力地歪在桌后宝座般的椅子上，看上去神志不清。他的右手耷拉着，被烧焦了，黑乎乎的。斯内普低声念着咒语，将魔杖对准了那只手腕，左手把一杯浓浓的金色药液灌进了邓布利多的嘴里。过了片刻，邓布利多的眼皮抖动了几下，睁开了。
“你为什么，”斯内普劈头就问道，“为什么要戴上那枚戒指？它上面有魔咒，你肯定知道。为什么还要碰它？”
马沃罗·冈特的戒指放在邓布利多面前的桌子上，已经破裂，旁边是格兰芬多的宝剑。
邓布利多苦笑了一下。
“我……我做了傻事。诱惑太大了……”
“什么诱惑？”
邓布利多没有回答。
“你能够回到这里已是个奇迹！”斯内普怒气冲冲地说，“那枚戒指上有特别强大的魔咒，我们最多能希望把它遏制住。我已经把魔咒暂时囚禁在一只手里——”
邓布利多举起那只焦黑、无用的手，仔细端详着，就像面对着一个非常有趣的古董。
“你干得很出色，西弗勒斯。你认为我还有多少时间？”
邓布利多的语气轻松随意，如同在询问天气预报。斯内普迟疑了一下，说：“我说不好，大概一年。没有办法永远遏制这样的魔咒。它最终总会扩散，这种魔咒会随着时间的推移不断加强。”
邓布利多露出了微笑。他只剩下不到一年的时间了，这消息对他来说似乎无足轻重。
“我很幸运，非常幸运，有你在我身边，西弗勒斯。”
“如果你早点把我叫来，我或许能多采取些措施，为你争取更多的时间！”斯内普恼怒地说，他低头看着破碎的戒指和那把宝剑，“你以为摧毁戒指就能破除魔咒？”
“差不多吧……我肯定是昏了头了……”邓布利多说，他吃力地在椅子上坐直身子，“也好，这样就使事情变得更简单了。”
斯内普似乎完全被弄糊涂了。邓布利多笑了笑。
“我指的是伏地魔围绕我制定的计划。他计划马尔福家那个可怜的男孩杀死我。”
斯内普在哈利经常坐的椅子上坐了下来，隔着桌子面对着邓布利多。哈利看出他还想再谈谈邓布利多那只被魔咒伤害的手，但对方举起焦手，委婉地表示不愿意继续谈论这个话题。斯内普皱着眉头说：“黑魔王没指望德拉科能够得手。这只是为了惩罚卢修斯最近的失败。让德拉科的父母眼看着儿子失手，然后付出代价，这对他们来说是钝刀子割肉。”
“总之，这男孩像我一样被明确地判了死刑。”邓布利多说，“我认为，一旦德拉科失手，接替这项工作的自然是你啰？”
短暂的沉默。
“我想，黑魔王是这么设计的。”
“伏地魔是否预见在不久的将来，他在霍格沃茨不再需要密探？”
“他相信学校很快就会被他控制，是的。”
“如果学校真的落到他的手里，”邓布利多说，好像是临时想到插了一句，“我要你起誓你会尽全部的力量保护霍格沃茨的学生，行吗？”
斯内普僵硬地点了点头。
“很好。那么，你首先需要弄清德拉科打算干什么。一个惊慌失措的少年不仅对他自己危险，对别人也很危险。向他提供帮助和指导，他应该会接受，他喜欢你——”
“——他父亲失宠之后，他就不那么喜欢我了。德拉科怨我，认为我夺走了卢修斯的位置。”
“没关系，试试吧。比起我自己来，我更关心的是那个男孩任何行动计划的意外牺牲品。当然啦，如果要把他从伏地魔的暴怒中解救出来，最终只有一个办法。”
斯内普扬起眉毛，用讽刺的口吻问道：“你打算让他把你杀死？”
“当然不是。必须由你杀死我。”
长久的沉默，屋里只有一种奇怪的咔啦啦的声音。凤凰福克斯在啃一小块墨鱼骨头。
“你希望我现在就动手吗？”斯内普问，语气里透着浓浓的讽刺，“还是你需要一点时间构思一个墓碑？”
“哦，暂时还不用，”邓布利多微笑着说，“我想，那一刻该来的时候总会来的。从今晚的事情来看，”他指指自己焦枯的手，“我们可以肯定它将在一年之内发生。”
“既然你不在乎死，”斯内普粗暴地说，“为什么不让德拉科得手呢？”
“那个男孩的灵魂还没被完全糟蹋，”邓布利多说，“我不愿意因为我的缘故把它弄得四分五裂。”
“那么我的灵魂呢，邓布利多？我的呢？”
“只有你知道帮助一个老人免于痛苦和耻辱不会伤害你的灵魂，”邓布利多说，“西弗勒斯，我请求你为我完成这件大事，因为死亡对于我来说是铁板钉钉的事，就像查德理火炮队将在今年的联赛中垫底一样。说句实话，我倒愿意没有痛苦地迅速结束生命，而不愿意拖拖拉拉，死得很狼狈，比如，把格雷伯克牵扯进来——我听说伏地魔把他也招进去了？或者落到亲爱的贝拉特里克斯手里，她喜欢把食物玩够了再吃？”
他的语气很轻松，但那双蓝眼睛却犀利地望着斯内普，就像从前望着哈利一样，似乎能真切地看见他们所谈论的灵魂。最后，斯内普轻轻地点了点头。
邓布利多好像满意了。
“谢谢你，西弗勒斯……”


虐惨。


TBC